Tier Harribel
is an Arrancar in Sōsuke Aizen's army, and is the tercera (3rd) Espada. She is the only current female Espada. Appearance Halibel has dark skin, green eyes, and spiky blonde hair which has three braided locks. She wears an oddly-cut variation of the Arrancar jacket that covers the lower part of her face downward, while baring a good portion of the lower half of her breasts; this jacket, unlike that of other Arrancar, is provided with a zipper running along its entire length that is opened from the bottom upwards. The jacket's sleeves completely envelop her arms, terminating in black glove-like extensions at her extremities, which slightly gives her fingers the appearance of a cat's paws. Physically, she appears to be just about as well-endowed as Rangiku Matsumoto is. Her jacket is extended slightly in the anime to better cover this due to censoring requirements. Halibel carries her Zanpakutō on her back (similar to Soifon). The sword itself is notably broad and short compared to others, and has a western-style guard. The larger remnants of her Hollow mask consist of her entire upper and lower jaws, as well as an extensive area below and around her neck extending up to, and also covering, her nipples; she usually hides these Hollow remnants from view with her jacket. Halibel's mask fragments give her a similar appearance to Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, at least in regards to the teeth. Smaller mask fragments, which she keeps exposed, frame her eyes and keep her braids in place. To date she has the most intact mask of any Arrancar not including the incomplete Grand Fisher (though the mask is removed upon her zanpakuto's release). Her Espada tattoo is oddly placed on the left side of her right breast. The location of her Hollow hole is currently unknown. Personality Halibel rarely speaks, and when she does, she's fairly serious. An example would be when she tells her Fracción that being afraid of an Espada's released form is a natural reaction. She calculated the battle between Ichigo Kurosaki and Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez was more of a fight between two Espada than anything else. She tends to cross her arms when not engaged in combat. Compared to her fellow Espada, who are usually arrogant, boastful, impulsive, battle-hungry, bloodthirsty, and egotistical, Halibel is composed, receptive, analytical, and prefers not to engage in combat; she is content on silently observing both parties until the fighting reaches its conclusion, and actually fights only when she is challenged and attacked by an opponent or commanded to fight by her superiors (though she appears reluctant to take orders from a higher-ranked Espada). Halibel's gender and associated rank in the Espada often draws the unwanted attention of other people; Nnoitra Jiruga attempts to provoke her into attacking him with a sharply-worded comment during the Espada meeting. She also catches the eye of Captain Shunsui Kyōraku, even to the point of him mentioning his (rather positive) opinion of her abilities to his opponent. Before Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends broke into Las Noches, Halibel is usually seen in the company of Aizen and her fellow Espada - in Aizen's throne room, the debriefing room, and the room which houses the Hōgyoku. However, she, like the other Espada, has her own quarters. Whenever she is present, Aizen usually greets the group with words such as "ladies and gentlemen of the Espada" or "brothers and sisters", apparently for her exclusive benefit. She views Aizen and his powers in high regard, which is reciprocated by Aizen to a certain extent, as he seems unconcerned with the prospect of his top three Espada fighting a numerically-superior force led by six Shinigami Captains without his aid. Strangely, Halibel seems to show some concern for her enemies. This was hinted when she observed Ichigo's fight with Grimmjow and was finalized when she asked Hitsugaya about his fluctuating reiatsu during their fight. Unlike most of her comrades, Halibel does care for her Fracción, as she is noticeably upset when she senses their presences fading. She is then shown angrily assaulting Hitsugaya seconds after their defeat at the hands of General Yamamoto. Synopsis Arrancar Arc Halibel initially appears as one of several Arrancar who attend the return of Ulquiorra Cifer and Yammy Rialgo after their initial intrusion in the human world. In her first appearance, she is shown to be one of those who witnessed the events recorded by Ulquiorra's peculiar ability to replay events using his crushed left eye. Both she and Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez are the only Espada seen attending the meeting. She is later also seen with several other Espada (including Grimmjow's replacement Luppi) during the creation of Wonderweiss Margera. Hueco Mundo Arc Halibel appears again during Aizen's meeting about Ichigo Kurosaki, Yasutora Sado and Uryū Ishida entering Hueco Mundo to save Orihime Inoue. After Aizen warns the Espada to treat the intruders with caution, she enunciates his statement to more rowdy members of the group, a comment specifically directed at Grimmjow and Nnoitra. Nnoitra taunts her thereafter, at which point she challenges him to repeat his insulting diatribe, but before things are able to go out of control Grimmjow interrupts the brewing confrontation by attempting to walk out against Aizen's orders. She is seen brooding silently while Aizen subdues Grimmjow with his Spiritual Pressure to keep him in line. During Ichigo's fight with Grimmjow, she and her Fracción watch from afar talking about the battle. She tells her Fracción that being afraid of an Espada's released form is a natural reaction and said that the battle between Ichigo Kurosaki and Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez was more like an fight between two Espada than anything else. Fake Karakura Arc Currently Halibel and her three Fracción are in battle with the Gotei 13. Once Aizen, Ichimaru, and Tōsen are trapped due to the abilities of Yamamoto's Shikai, Barragan himself decides to give all orders, sending out four of his own Fracción to destroy the four pillars keeping Karakura Town in Soul Society. After the pillars are successfully defended and all four of Barragan's Fracción are killed, all the remaining Fracción and Espada pair up against the Shinigami and begin to battle. Halibel enters into battle with Tōshirō Hitsugaya, while Hitsugaya's lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto fights all three of her fracción. During this battle she senses the fluctuations in Hitsugaya's spiritual pressure as soon as Momo Hinamori appears to aid his lieutenant. She questions him on this only to be rebuffed with an attack on Hitsugaya's part. Later, when she senses Apache, Mila-Rose, and Sun-Sun's defeat at the hands of Yamamoto, her tactics against Hitsugaya change and she says to her fallen subordinates that they fought well. She then unzips her jacket, revealing her rank as the 3rd Espada to Hitsugaya, much to his dismay that such a strong being is the only the third strongest of the Espada, which earned a retort that she had not yet showed him the full extent of her power.Bleach Manga - Chapter 339; Page 12 Acknowledging the seriousness of this fight against such a powerful opponent, Hitsugaya activates his Bankai, causing Halibel to counter by directly charging at him. thumb|right|190px|Tiburón After determining Hitsugaya's strength to be weak, even with his Bankai, and sending him flying into a building with her Proyectil Azul attack, Halibel decides to put an end to the battle and releases her Zanpakutō.Bleach Manga - Chapter 354; Page 19 With the overwelming power she gains from her resurrection, she easily delivers a seemingly fatal blow to a surprised Hitsugaya, slicing off a large portion of Hitsuyaga's body from his right shoulder, and tells him that "one blow from the shark and the ice dragon sinks in the sea".Bleach Manga - Chapter 355; page 19 Powers & Abilities Halibel is the tercera (third) Espada, making her the 3rd most powerful arrancar in Sōsuke Aizen's Army. Keen Intellect: While a person of few words, Halibel has shown herself to be an intuitive person. During the battle between Ichigo and Grimmjow, she noted how similar the two were, especially in terms of energy signatures. Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Halibel has demonstrated tremendous skill in swordsmanship, being able to fight on even grounds with Hitsugaya, a famous prodigy of swordsmanship while not taking the battle seriously. Cero: Being the third Espada, Halibel can use cero, as well as Gran Rey Cero, and presumably Cero Oscuras. Bala: Halibel can use Bala blasts, which hardens the user's spiritual pressure and fires it like a bullet from their fist. It is a faster, but weaker variation of Cero. Garganta: Garganta is how Arrancar move to and from Hueco Mundo. Halibel has the ability to use this technique. It literally tears open the dimensional fabric separating the worlds, revealing a tunnel of whirling, torrential energy that must be focused and solidified to create a discernible pathway. She is seen using one to travel to the Fake Karakura Town. Vast Spiritual Power: Being one of the top 4 members of the Espada, Halibel is forbidden to release her Zanpakutō inside the dome of Las Noches. Zanpakutō thumb|right|190px|Halibel's Zanpakutō . In its sealed state, Halibel's zanpakutō is unusually wide in comparison to its length, and is also completely hollow, consisting of nothing more than the edges. The handle is purple and guard is as wide as the blade and has three small holes on each end that Halibel uses to unsheathe it. Oddly, the sword is longer than the sheathe. It is worn horizontally on her upper back. : : A technique in which Halibel gathers spirit energy within the hollow portion of her blade and launches it as an attack, similar to a cannon, towards her opponent, in the form of a blade. She has also demonstrated the ability to keep the gathered energy concentrated within the hollowed out portion of the blade and unleash it in the form of a ribbon when attacking. thumb|190px|right|Halibel's Resurrección, Tiburón. *'Resurrección': Its release command is . When releasing her Zanpakutō she holds it in an outstretched arm in front of her with the blade pointing down and declares the release. She is then completely enveloped by a heart shaped water sphere, that reshapes itself into a cyclone like cocoon which Halibel then cuts herself out of. In this form, all of her clothes are gone and the remains of her hollow mask on her face and neck seen in her sealed form are gone, now instead creating a collar around her neck with extensions that cover her nipples, spaulders on her shoulders and two wing-like protrusions on her back featuring what appears to be a shark fin on each, a mini-skirt consisting of bones and something that reassembles a spine down her stomach.Bleach Manga - Chapter 355; Page 16 She now wears a pair of knee long boots and elbow long glows. Her weapon now takes the form of a rapier, that closely ressembles a shark's tooth, featuring an unusual hilt and shark's gill marks along the blade. Halibel's hair becomes messy and she loses her three braids and she also gains two lightning bolt markings on both sides of her face. :Resurrección Special Ability: In this form, Halibel gains immense speed and strength. Her increase in strength is so great that a simple swing of her rapier is strong enough to send a cutting wind that even at longer distances can easily cut an opponent. The speed is also so great that an opponent, such as Tōshirō Hitsugaya, a shinigami captain, was unable to comprehend what had happened until moments after.Bleach Manga - Chapter 355; Page 19 Fracción Halibel's Fracción consists of three female Arrancar: * is a tomboyish Arrancar with heterochromia, one sky blue and one amber eye; the latter has a red ring around it. Apache's mask fragment is on the top of her head with a horn in the middle much like that of a unicorn. Apache's Zanpakutō are the bracelets strapped to her arms. * is a dark-skinned Arrancar who dresses like an Amazon warrior. Her mask fragments form a three-sectioned crown around her head and a thick necklace. Her Hollow hole is positioned midway between her navel and breasts. Her zanpakutō is a western style longsword. * dresses somewhat like Luppi, with sleeves that extend well past her hands. She also has two belts criss-crossing each other on her waist. Sun-Sun has long, flowing green hair and three dots below her right eye. Her mask remnants create three hair clip-like extensions on the right side of her hair. Her Hollow hole isn't visible. She seems to be the most mature of Halibel's Fracción, advising Apache and Mila-Rose to stop arguing, as it makes them look weak, then chiding their angry responses. Her zanpakutō resembles a sai. Trivia *Her name is apparently taken from Harry Bell Measures, an architect. *Interestingly, both Halibel and Neliel Tu Oderschvank were the only female Espada in their generation and both of them held the number 3, and both were the only two who seemed to care for their Fracción. *Halibel is one of the few Arrancar to retain a type of sword after her Resurrección. She shares this trait with Mila-Rose, Neliel Tu Oderschvank, Nnoitra Jiruga, Aaroniero Arruruerie, Rudobōn and Ulquiorra Cifer. Quotes *"You're being disrespectful to Aizen-sama, Barragan." *"This is a captain's strength..? Apache and the others lost to this..?" *"Attack, Tiburón!" *"You are no match for me." *"One blow from the shark and the ice dragon sinks into the sea." References Navigation